1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to a male connector of a transfusion line which conducts fluids such as drug solutions to patients and transfusion line connection apparatus for use with the connector cap.
2. Background of the Related Art
During conventional medical procedures, medical fluids such as drug solutions and blood, etc. are supplied to a patient by a transfusion system through a tube. Within this type of transfusion system, connection equipment is used to provide throughflow between tubes by including male and female connectors at the end of the tubes.
A transfusion system that can prevent leaks is desirable to prevent fluid from contacting medical staff and patients. This is important because medical fluids that are supplied by the transfusion system, such as anti-cancer and transfusion drugs, may have induced characteristics or may cause side effects such as cytopathy, genotoxicity, carcogenicity, and fetal malformation.
A male connector with the purpose of preventing medical fluid from leaking when being disconnected from a female connector is proposed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2006-102254 (“JP 2006-102254”). The male connector of JP 2006-102254 is equipped with a cylindrical injector which has an opening on the peripheral wall at the end and a protective shutter that moves along the injector to open and close the aperture. The protective shutter is positioned to block the aperture and is openend when it receives an indentation force towards a base portion. The protective shutter once again blocks the aperture when the indentation force is released.
In JP 2006-102254 the protective shutter is made from an elastic body covers the opening. However, this protective shutter only retains the injector by the radial constriction flexibility of the injector. Therefore, it is likely that the protective shutter would shift towards the axis and open the aperture. Also, since the protective shutter moves along the axis of the injector with an enlarged diameter when the male and female connectors are attached or detached, it is easy to deform and collapse. If the flexibility of the protective shutter collapses, the aperture cannot be appropriately covered. Leaks may occur from the aperture.
Another male connector with a male lure which can be connected to a female lure and having a “tubular elastic body 15” positioned between the inlet and outlet is proposed in European Published Application No. EP 1,747,796 A1. This “tubular elastic body 15” is equipped with a “diaphragm 22” which normally blocks the inlet and outlet of the male connector. However, when the male lure is connected to the female lure, the “incision 23” of the “diaphragm 22” opens so that a flow path forms between the inlet and outlet, as described in European Published Application No. EP 1,747,796 A1.